Cajun/Zydeco

Zydeco and Cajun music’s roots go back as far as Louisiana culture itself. Like a lot of folk music, they’re meant for drinking, dancing, and partying — pretty much the Three Commandments of New Orleans. If Cajun music is Crescent City country, then D.L. Menard is the Cajun Hank Williams, two-stepping through “The Back Door” with loads of lonesome twang. Zydeco is the Cajun sound’s revved-up, R&B-soaked cousin, and the late, great Clifton Chenier is its king forevermore — his blazing accordion riffs are still the best way to “Bon ton roulet” (“Let the Good Times Roll”). And every once in a while, the word leaks out to the world beyond New Orleans, like when Doug Kershaw’s raw, rockin’ Cajun cry “Diggy Diggy Lo” became a ’60s hit, or when Rockin’ Sidney’s sassy “My Toot Toot” took the Zydeco veteran to the Country charts in 1985.

Zydeco catches rock ’n’ roll fever in Next Steps.

In the ’50s, zydeco picked up so much momentum, it became a kind of Big Easy rock ’n’ roll, and plenty of rockin’ tunes have worked their way into the squeezebox-and-washboard world over the years. Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers’ hip-wiggling, accordion-pumpin’ take on “Keep a Knockin’” could give Little Richard a run for his money. Keith Frank pours some bayou boogaloo into the Stones’ classic “Satisfaction,” showing that British Invasion rockers are fair game for New Orleans’ new breed. Even the building blocks of rock have fueled the zydeco flame — Clifton Chenier himself took a rompin', stompin' turn with Louis Jordan's jump-blues milestone "Caldonia."

Shake a tail-feather, with zydeco boogie and Cajun stomp, in Deep Cuts.

Over the years, zydeco and Cajun music have evolved in a dozen directions at once, picking up pieces of other styles and expanding on their own traditions. So what are these Louisiana sounds all about, anyway? Well, they’re about the rough-and-ready Hackberry Ramblers, the longest-running Cajun band, sawing, stomping, and wailing away on “Crowley Waltz.” They’re about Buckwheat Zydeco busting into the mainstream but still keeping the faith with his freight-train boogie beat on “Zydeco La Louisianne.” And they’re about Wayne Toups taking things a few steps forward, by blending it all with rock ’n’ roll for a fiery “zydecajun” sound on “Going Back to Big Mamou.”

When you hear the rattling rhythm of the washboard, the powerful pumping of the accordion, that’s when you know you’re in zydeco territory. And when the jingle-jangle of the triangle, feverish fiddle licks, and a singer’s high-flying wail fill the room, it’s a sure bet you’re in Cajun country. But zydeco and Cajun sounds are the Crescent City’s kissin’ cousins — sometimes they mingle with each other, and just as often they pick up touches of rock, blues, funk, and more along the way. It can be tough to keep track of it all, but we’ve roamed from the bayou to the barroom to bring you crucial cuts by everyone from the creators of Cajun to the young lions roaring toward the future of zydeco. Start soaking up that Big Easy beat and bring Louisiana into your living room, right here.